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5 Content Tips For Higher YouTube and Google Rankings

Google is a vital organ in the YouTube video-sharing beast. Since Google acquired Youtube in 2006 (for a cool $1.65 billion stock-for-stock deal), viewership has soared to 4 billion per day in 2016.

Those are the facts we’re faced with today. Sparring for the attention of more than 1 billion discerning viewers. They’re willing to watch. What do you want them to see?

Small businesses can benefit from video marketing in several ways, most of which confirm higher search engine results. We can thank the Google-YouTube billion-dollar-brethren for that. Catchy YouTube content for your business can:

  • Draw users back to your website. Boom, increased traffic!
  • Encourage users to visit your other social media channels.
  • Boost brand awareness.
  • Bolster brand authenticity. This appeals to current Google algorithm guidelines.
  • Communicate information about your brand or services in a dynamic format, bringing more potential customers within reach.

If this sounds about right, read on. I’m starting with five content tips for higher YouTube and Google rankings. This is groundwork for cost-effective video marketing with results.

1. Create awesome clips

Ah, how obvious does this sound? Despite the “DUH” here, it’s worth mentioning because of how frequently I see small business owners and entrepreneurs invest in video production without a firm understanding of their audience, and without a commitment to genuinely offering something new.

This is not a platform for marketing spin. It’s for how-to videos, intelligent or humorous commentary, music performances, or whatever your business can produce to create value online.  If it’s not awesome, users will not watch it.

2. Tailor the title

The clip title is not just a formality. Like the title of a blog post or page heading, YouTube titles factor into Google search engine results for keywords, and influence click-through rates. Your YouTube clip titles should have a call-to-action, and keywords. I’ll show you what this looks like next week.

3. Doctor the description

Every video uploaded to YouTube can be described in the chunk of space below the clip.

The description space is also factored for Google rankings, so should include keywords (consistent with the keywords used for the title and tags, which we’ll chat about next).

Descriptions should actually describe what the video is about, and include a link to wherever you’d like the viewer to go next. Make it legible and entertaining, instead of overloading it in keyword garble.

4. Take care of tags, too

The “Tags” section you see above should also reflect the keywords used in the title and description. Use between 15-20 keyword tags per video.

5. Include a transcript of the video text

Your clips should include keywords, so throw the transcription on the page, too. Instead of using the video transcription function on YouTube (which is notoriously shoddy), take the time to transcribe the text word for word, and then embed it with the clip. Once you’ve uploaded the video, go to “Edit” > “Captions” > and then click “Upload caption file or transcript”..

Conclusion

These are content specific tips for higher YouTube and Google video rankings.  Next week, we’ll discuss these in more detail, and consider other tactics for boosting video rankings, such as social media and improving inbound links.

In the meantime, start thinking about what kind of content you think your users would value from your business YouTube presence. Let’s bounce any ideas or questions around in the comment section below.

References
“Google To Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion in Stock.” 9 October 2006. News From Google: http://googlepress.blogspot.ca/2006/10/google-to-acquire-youtube-for-165_09.html
Welbourne, Lori. “Top 10 Tips For A Better Oscars: On A Brighter Note Column.” 13 February 2012. YouTube.com: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tUJqcOKvDg

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